1. The Field of the Invention
This invention relates to debridement and, more particularly, to novel systems and methods for removing callus foot tissue.
2. Background
Debridement is the removal of dead, damaged, or infected tissue. In the field of podiatry, standard debridement techniques typically include surgical removal of dead, damaged, or infected foot tissue, including callus foot tissue. Manual and powered instruments are commonly used for this purpose. For example, using standard podiatric techniques, a podiatrist may utilize a scalpel or other manual cutting tool to surgically cut or shave callus foot tissue, or a podiatrist may use a powered instrument such as a high-speed drill that spins a burr designed to surgically remove callus foot tissue.
However, conventional foot tissue debridement techniques have limitations. For example, simple, manual use of a scalpel to remove foot callus tissue is typically slow, painful, and prone to human error. Powered instruments can debride some foot tissue faster than manual instruments, but limitations remain. For example, great care must be used to avoid inflicting unnecessary pain, tearing tissue, and causing bleeding. In fact, certain burrs designed for abrasive debridement have been impractical, as well as unsuccessful in the market, namely because of their tendency to inflict pain, tear tissue, and cause bleeding. These limitations are especially problematic when working with thick, hardened, or fissured callus foot tissue.
Accordingly, the burrs commonly available in the modern market are in general limited to those designed for less abrasive and consequently less efficient debridement of foot tissue. The use of such burrs can require significant treatment times, especially when used to debride thick and hardened callus tissue. Moreover, such burrs tend to produce excessive amounts of fine particle dust when used on callus foot tissue.
The results produced by standard debridement techniques also leave room for improvement. For example, conventional surgical debridement of callus foot tissue may achieve a certain level of success in removing unwanted tissue, but success is limited by the nature and difficulty of working with (e.g., cutting, grinding, shaving, sanding, etc.) hardened callus foot tissue. Moreover, callus foot tissue that has been removed using standard debridement techniques often reforms at an unacceptable rate.